An Exposition of Benevolence (Renxue)

A philosophical treatise by the reformer Tan Sitong, written around 1896–97 and published after his execution in 1898 for his part in the Hundred Days' Reform. It tries to fuse Confucian ethics, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Christianity and Western science into one system. Its key term is ren, benevolence or humaneness, which Tan defines as tong: connection or interpenetration. Borrowing the scientific idea of the ether, he describes the universe as a single medium through which all things are linked, so that true benevolence means removing the barriers between China and other nations, between high and low, between men and women, and between self and others. On this basis he attacks the 'three bonds' that subordinate subjects to rulers, sons to fathers and wives to husbands, calling them tools of tyranny, and urges his readers to break through the nets of convention, received learning and imperial power. Critics have found its mix of sources more passionate than systematic.

It is the most radical Confucian voice of the late Qing, and it shows a thinker trying to rebuild an ancient virtue into an argument for equality and against rigid hierarchy.